Processing of Organomodified Clay Dispersed Vinylester Composites

There is increased interest in Montmorillonite (MMT) clay based polymer nanocomposites due to the layer structure, large surface area and high aspect ratio. They have been successfully used to improve mechanical, thermal, barrier and fire retardation properties. However, nanocomposites do not always offer improved material properties over the conventional composites. This book gives clear idea to study property changes in nanocomposites that result from partial exfoliation and how different mixing combinations lead to varying degrees of exfoliation. This book also explains the inorganic ions in the clay can be effectively replace with organic cationic surfactant molecules through cation-exchange reactions. The objective of this book is to study the dispersion uniformity of nanoclay in vinylester by using only ultrasonication and combination of ultrasonication and twin screw extrusion for the dispersion. The influence of MMT addition to vinylester/glass on its mechanical properties such as tensile, flexural, ILSS, impact and fatigue behavior was explained. The influence on the fire behavior of vinylester/glass was showed based on HBR, VBR and Limiting Oxygen Index (LOI).